Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” – Exodus 33:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 7, 2015): Exodus 33

In 2005 Peter Schwiezer, a political consultant and the current president of the Institute for Government Accountability, release his book entitled “Do as I Say (Not as I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy.” Schweizer’s premise was that political liberals have a tendency to talk a better liberal game than what they live – which Schwiezer insists is made even more annoying because of their smug moral superiority The book attempted to compare the words of leading liberals, such as the Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Michael Moore, with their actual actions. And what he found was that there were some glaring inconsistencies. It seems that our liberal leaders are unwilling to live up to their own instructions.

Revelations, such as the ones surrounding Bill Cosby in recent days, tell us that the story probably hasn’t changed, and it may be more than just the political liberals who are struggling to live up to their words. The world that our words say that we want to create is not one that we seem willing to create with our actions. And that discrepancy is significant and important.

God tells Moses that his presence will be with him. Literally the word that is translated ‘presence’ in this passage means face. God is telling Moses that his face will go with him. It is the reason why Moses was considered to be the one who had met with God ‘face to face’ – or ‘presence to presence.’ The commitment was that as long as Moses decided to be fully present with God, then God would be fully present with Moses.

But Moses response is maybe a little surprising, and it foreshadows effectively what is about to happen. Moses declares that he is uninterested in the pleasantries of life that might exist in Canaan. His interest is not in a land ‘flowing with milk and honey;’ all that he desires is the presence of God. “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”  Canaan was a land filled with all of the good things of life. But according to Moses he would rather stay in the desert with the presence of God then to go into Canaan without him.

The words would prove to be prophetic. Moses would end up spending the next forty years – literally the rest of his life – in the desert, refusing to lead Israel into Canaan without the face of God leading them. But every day he spent in the desert would be spent in the presence of God. Every day in the desert would be spent with Moses meeting face to face with his God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 34